Cover crops are usually touted for their contributions to soil health. But for no-tillers with livestock, covers can provide an immediate benefit to the bottom line by also serving as forage.

Drought tolerant, water-sipping and nitrogen efficient, sorghum provides a summer rotation that has proven to be profitable in the harshest conditions and lucrative when good weather prevails.

The near-record warm winter the Midwest experienced this year, combined with the early and unusually warm spring, has caused wheat to mature sooner than normal, which could let farmers plant a second crop like soybeans to increase their profit potential using the same land.

In a more "typical" year, Indiana's wheat crop wouldn't mature until mid-June in the southern part of the state, and harvest wouldn't wrap up until mid-July in the north, said Herb Ohm, Purdue University research agronomist.

While many people are convinced no-till is the way to farm, many others are convinced it does not work. Clearly no-till farming can work, but failures typically occur because of one or more of these 10 reasons